Okay, finally got this darn chapter finished. yeah, my laptop is like, dead, so I have to share the desktop--which doesn't run much better. Oi. ANYhoo, here ya go. :) Please do review if you're still around; it helps so much. Thanks! :D

Chapter 12

SG-1 gathered at Sam's house after all, for New Years. There really wasn't a safe way to celebrate it in an apartment building without noise complaints from neighbors. Vala didn't mind. Anything got her out of the SGC, and away from the endless hours of trying not to think that the holiday downtime allowed.

The extra distraction that presented itself helped too.

Vala had just arrived from the base with Teal'c, when another vehicle pulled into the driveway. The four of them waited in the entryway curiously, until Sam opened the door when it was knocked on and revealed a tired Jack O'Neill standing out in the cold carrying a couple of packs of drinks.

"Sir!" Carter yelped. She let him in and quickly closed the door behind him against the wind.

"Uhm…hey. Sorry I didn't make it for Christmas, but you know business in Washington. Hank said you guys would be out here tonight though, so…" he shrugged. "Caught the first flight out I found once I figured out I could make it in time; didn't really have time to call ahead."

"Are you well, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked in concern.

Along with the light bags under his eyes, the general's eyes were a bit red—and it probably wasn't from the flight. "Yeah, T, I'm ok. I just didn't think I should miss getting out here if I could since…you know…"

"It's good to see you, sir," Cameron said quietly. Sam nodded in agreement.

Mitchell took the drinks from O'Neill, and got in a handshake of welcome before the general moved on to give Teal'c a brotherly clap-on-the-back hug. Vala took a couple of steps back, feeling intrusive when he embraced Carter for a long moment.

She always felt just a bit left out, whenever she was reminded of the bonds the original SG-1 shared that she and Mitchell would never fully understand. A brief glance in Cam's direction told her that he was thinking the same thing right now.

Cameron went to put the drinks in the kitchen, and O'Neill let go of Sam and moved to give Vala's shoulders a friendly squeeze.

"Hey."

"Hi…" she trailed. Mitchell was back a moment later, and Jack shoved his hands in his pockets.

"So…how are you guys holding up?"

Teal'c frowned. "It is…difficult."

"Yeah, tell me about it. I never thought…"

Sam swallowed. "We're doing all right, sir. What about you?"

He only shrugged, and there was nothing but silence for a long moment. "But hey, I didn't come to bring the mood down. This is supposed to be a party. It'll be 2010 in a few hours."

Vala nodded to herself, but before she knew it the motion was much more vigorous. "He's right. That's—it's what he would want." She knew that better than any of them did. Daniel had told her himself; he wanted them to be happy. The others exchanged glances. Teal'c nodded, and Cameron smiled a little.

"Yeah."

The Denali clan—the only other family of vegetarian vampires—came from Alaska for New Years. Daniel had yet to meet Tanya's family until they arrived that afternoon.

There were five of them: Tanya, Kate and Garrett, and Carmen and Eleazar. Carmen and Eleazar were both black-haired and slightly olive-tinted. Garrett, a scruffy previous nomad and the most recent edition to the Denali clan, was Kate's mate. Though they were all just as beautiful as all of the Cullens, Tanya surpassed everyone in the room but maybe for Rosalie. Her strawberry curls reminded Daniel unwillingly of Sarah—yet another human friend he could never see again.

"Well, it certainly is a pleasure to meet you," Tanya grinned, once the other welcomes were over. "I'm sorry we haven't made it down here before now. You know, even if the rest of your family here doesn't have time, you can always come visit us any time."

"Thanks…"

Tanya's the only member of her clan without a mate, and since Edward is married now she hasn't had anyone to crush on for a while, Bella had told him the day before, grinning. So I'd watch your back.

She needn't have worried about warning him. It was immediately obvious that Tanya was flirtatious. After knowing Vala he could spot the type a mile away, though this woman wasn't quite that extreme. Still, he was glad when she moved on to let the rest of her family greet him.

"The Cullens just can't stay evened up for long, can they?" Kate chuckled. "Barely five years since Bella officially joined them, and now they've taken on yet another."

Tanya spoke from across the room. "Ah, but we're extended family, remember? Think of it that way, and this newcomer has actually evened us up as a whole," she said, and winked at Daniel. He blinked in confusion and quickly shoved it off. He didn't want to know what she was trying to say.

He shot a quick look at Alice, and thankfully she picked up on the silent plea for help. Immediately his diminutive new sister danced to Tanya's side and began peppering her with question about the most recent goings-on in Alaska. Daniel sighed; he was more than willing to let Alice run distraction for the rest of the night, if she had to.

Eleazar shook Daniel's hand as his mate smiled warmly.

"It is good to finally meet out new cousin," Carmen told him kindly.

"We have plenty of time before midnight. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?" Eleazar suggested.

Carmen nodded. "Where were you from? Carlisle hasn't told us much."

"Ah, let's see, where I'm from...If you want the whole story, that's kind of complicated. My parents were archaeologists like I am, so they moved around a lot…"

Daniel eventually managed to slip out of the house and down to the river, where he stood listening to the water flow and watching the fireworks going up on all sides of Forks, or what he could see of them above the trees. With his eyes now, he could even see some from La Push—a huge step from almost needing glasses just to tell faces apart.

"So is there a reason you've been avoiding me all night?"

Tanya. He'd heard her coming, of course, but there would have been no point in running. He sighed and turned to face her.

"Sort of. It's not you, really. Listen, I know your situation, and I know mine, but…" He squinted in discomfort at the topic. "There was…someone…when I was human…back in Colorado. I just…I'm not ready to move on." It was as close to the truth as he could get.

She crossed he arms and shook her head at him in a completely different reaction than he'd expected. "You could have found a way to tell me that earlier. If you'd have just said so, I could have avoided spending the night uselessly pondering ways to throw myself at you before Alice could stop me."

"You—?"

"Yes, I know what she's been doing. I just couldn't fathom why."

His lips pursed in a wince. "I'm sorry. Even with all the enhancements this life comes with, I guess I'm still just as horrible at some things as I used to be."

"I suppose one of those things would be women?" Tanya chuckled lightly.

"Guilty as charged."

She looked at him for a moment and then shrugged. "All right. I forgive you." She held out a hand. "Friends?"

Daniel only hesitated for a moment before taking it. "I can do that."

"Good. I'd be delighted." She smiled as she shook his hand, then let it go and glanced up at the fireworks above them. They watched in silence for a bit before she broke it. "You, I wasn't always the odd one out. Kate was single too, for the longest time, and our other sister, Irina…for a long time it was just the three of us."

"I heard about what happened to her…a little, anyway. Something about a face-off with the Volturi over Renesmee after she was born. I'm sorry."

Tanya sighed, and her breath misted in the cool winter air. "Yes…that's what happened. They wanted to kill her because she was an unknown, a possible liability, they said. We're lucky Alice and Jasper able to track down another half-breed to convince the Volturi that letting the girl live wasn't dangerous. That's the only reason it didn't turn into a fight."

She let out a humorless laugh. "Of course, Carlisle or whoever you heard whatever you know from was probably too good to tell you that the whole stand-off was Irina's fault in the first place. She was the one who told them Nessie existed."

"No, I didn't know all of that." His voice fell. "But they didn't have to kill her. Again, I'm sorry…I know what it's like to lose someone like that."

"Oh?"

Somehow he didn't mind telling her. Maybe it was that she looked like Sarah, or that she reminded him somewhat of Vala in more subtle ways. Maybe it was both…or maybe it was only that she was so quick to understand.

"I was married…god it must be almost fifteen years ago now. She died three and a half years later," Daniel told her quietly.

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

He shrugged.

The number of small explosions in the air above them increased exponentially, and the two of them spun and realized that Emmett, Jasper, and Garrett were out in the back yard now shooting off their own.

"Come on, it's almost midnight!" Edward called.

Tanya grinned. "Well, I'm always up for a good show."

"At least fireworks haven't changed," Daniel agreed.

"Race you back to the house?"

"That's barely even a race!"

"Fine, but I want to race you someday, and don't forget that you're not a newborn anymore. You don't have any advantage; I'll leave you in the dust!"

Daniel smirked and followed her up to the house. "Probably."

"Happy New Year!!"

The five of them called the exclamation to the sky, echoing the shouts of their neighbors and the gunshots and fireworks of those ignoring the city mandates. Cam broke out the bag of sparklers and smaller ground firecrackers that were legal, and Teal'c and Vala were the first to grab handfuls of ordinance and rush out into the back yard. Well…the jaffa walked excitedly—with dignity.

Carolyn and Landry had stopped by earlier, before heading off for their own plans, and now SG-1 plus O'Neill were in the back yard.

Sam retired to the deck chairs with Cameron and O'Neill, and watched in amusement as the two in the yard eventually began to chase each other. Vala was really smiling for the first time in weeks.

Carter sat back in her chair and sighed. "That's good to see."

"Yeah, it is," Mitchell agreed quietly, and settled an arm around her shoulders. Sam's first reaction was to relax, but she had to force herself not to stiffen up or jerk away when she remembered that Jack was there. She couldn't do that to Cam. But…

She shot a discreet glance in O'Neill's direction. If he'd noticed, he wasn't looking at them now. Well…there was no point in hiding anything—not from Jack—not as long as they'd know each other. That wouldn't be fair.

Teal'c, meanwhile, was scouting a flat spot on which to place a typical firework that sat on the ground and shot colored sparks in the air. Once he found a good place, he backed away and let Vala light it with a burning sparkly. The wick burnt a bit quicker than she thought and she was still close when it went off and began spewing. Vala jumped farther away with a squeal, and the boys on the deck chuckled. Sam was sure Teal'c was grinning too.

"Daniel was always misjudging them like that," Jack said after a moment, once the spark spewing firecracker had died out and Teal'c and Vala had moved on to something else. "Something was always blowing up in his face when we did this."

Cameron raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Despite the pang in her chest Sam couldn't help laughing a little at the memory.

O'Neill answered, smiling to cover the sadness with humor. "Oh yeah. Usually it was nothing big, you know. He wasn't hurt, just burned his fingers some most years—it was just funny 'cause he could never avoid it."

"It was only the first year that we had to take him to the emergency room," Sam added. "Even then it wasn't really that bad, but he moped around the base looking like a mummy for days before he got the bandages off of his face."

"Huh. I guess he finally had his act together by the time I got here," Cameron shrugged.

Jack winced then, enough that she even saw it in the dark. "Yeah. I was real proud of him, the past few years…" He trailed off, silently refusing to elaborate, but he didn't have to say anything for them to know he wasn't only talking about firecracker handling.

Sam took a deep breath to calm the pain and focused on Teal'c and Vala in the yard again. They hadn't heard any of the conversation. As far as Vala was concerned, that was a good thing. The last thing she needed right now was backwards momentum.

Cam tugged on her shoulder a little. "Come on, let's get out there."

"No thanks, I'll just—"

"No buts! It's New Years. Get up."

It took a couple more tries on his part, but Sam finally relented and let him drag her out into the yard with Teal'c and Vala. "What about you, sir?" he asked of O'Neill.

"I will sit right here—but hand me a couple of those sparklers."

The five of them wandered back inside after another hour or so. It was at this point would typically make a unanimous decision either to just camp out the rest of the night, or head their separate ways home. There were several factors that contributed to the decision.

Tonight, Sam noticed O'Neill speak briefly to Cameron and Vala, and after a moment they both seemed to agree to something and headed for the front door.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, catching them in the entryway.

Cam detoured back to her for a hug. "Vala and I are leaving," he explained in her ear. "The general wants some time with you two," he said, glancing in Teal'c's direction.

"Oh…" she breathed. "Is that okay?"

He smiled a little. "You guys go a lot farther back. I'm not arguing with this one, and neither is Vala. I can always come over later."

"Right."

Cam kissed her briefly, and followed Vala out to the vehicles.

Because she hadn't expected to see him there, Sam winced when she realized that Jack was just outside the entryway. She didn't mean for him to see it, either, but it seemed he had anyway.

"Something wrong?" he asked casually.

Sam couldn't help glancing around for Teal'c, for an excuse not to have this conversation…but she didn't see him anywhere at the moment. "I—I…I…uh…" She gestured wordlessly to the door, where Mitchell had just been.

O'Neill pointed the same direction. "What, that?"

She nodded, not sure what to expect but certainly not expecting what came.

Jack just shrugged. "What about it."

Her mouth gaped open before she could stop it. "That doesn't bother you?" That, too, she'd blurted before she could think.

"Why would it bother me?"

For some reason, that hurt. "I don't know…"

The casual expression grew tender, and Jack smiled a little. "Hey…it's okay. I didn't mean that how it probably sounded."

Sam swallowed, with confusion suddenly the most prevalent emotion on her mind. "Then what…?" She trailed off, but he didn't answer for a long moment…and she realized she was seeing a side of him that didn't come out very often.

He began slowly. "Carter…Sam. I think we both know what's…gone on beneath the surface, in the past. But…I also think that I always knew you'd outgrow me eventually." He smiled. "I was never good enough for you; I was just waiting for you to figure out you could do better, I guess."

"S-sir, Jack, this…it's not about you. There's…nothing wrong with you…"

"But you love him now."

She blinked.

"I'm old, not blind," he chuckled.

Sam's cheeks burned suddenly, and she stared at the floor. "I'm sorry…" she whispered.

"For what? You didn't do anything. Honestly, Carter, I'm not taking this personally. You deserve someone like him."

"But…are you all right with this?" she managed eventually, still studying her shoes. She heard him come closer, and after a moment she felt his warm hands gently take he shoulders between them. Tentatively she looked up, and he was smiling.

"Sam, all I want is for you to know that I'm always here for you, in whatever way you need. If that's a best friend, then hey; that's perfect. I think we've gotten pretty good at that one over the years. As long as you know I'm not going anywhere."

She hugged him then, much more fiercely then when he showed up at the door. "Thank you."

"Any time…"

There was silence for a few moments, and Sam just held on. She determined that Teal'c must have realized something was going on and slipped into the back of the house. "You know, I always thought that would be a lot harder," she said after a moment.

Jack snorted good-naturedly. "Well hey, it wasn't easy."

She laughed a little into his chest. "No." She didn't realize until she pulled back some that she was crying, and she laughed in embarrassment and swiped at them. "Sorry, I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay," he told her for the second time that night. He wiped away some of the tears himself, and grinned when she looked at him in confusion. "What are friends for?"

Sam really laughed, finally, and kissed his cheek. "I think we can tell Teal'c to come out of hiding now." We have a lot of catching up and reminiscing to do.

After New Years, the Cullens and Denalis easily decided that Tanya's family should stay a while longer. It had been a while since their last visit, after all, and with no one living in the main house that ever needed sleep, suddenly having five more people wasn't such a big deal. Daniel certainly didn't mind; if he was going to get used to this life, he might as well make as many friends as possible, and he liked the Cullens' honorary extended family.

It wasn't so bad having Tanya herself around, either. Being the only two singles in this house of such unique individuals—all living this strange life under the human radar—gave them a common basis on which to build a strong friendship. It turned out that vampires were different from humans in visiting habits, too. The Denalis stayed for nearly two months.

Tanya and Daniel took to hunting together, at first only for convenience. Soon it became an easy excuse for having conversation out of the hearing range of the others—not that there was anything to hide, but it was a relief to Daniel not to have to hold a conversation and control his thoughts because of Edward at the same time. He could let himself miss Vala when he away from the house…but eventually, he discovered that he liked being around Tanya because it could make him forget…just for a little while.

"You've been studying that herd for quite a while. Is there something particularly interesting down there?"

Her voice broke into his thoughts, and Daniel twisted his gaze away from the deer that he hadn't really been looking at. "What? No…I'm sorry."

"Were you spacing out on me again?" Tanya smirked.

"A little. Sorry."

"Not a problem, but I would like to eat sometime today."

"Right. Let's go."

Daniel took a deep breath, purposely taking in as much of the warm, damp scent of the small deer herd as he could. It only burned his throat a little. It wasn't nearly as appetizing as the larger game they hunted higher in the mountains, or…He stopped the thought in its tracks on focused on the animals below them on the ground. Their scent was at least enough that he could easily push thought aside and give in to the instincts.

"I've got left!" Tanya whispered enthusiastically. "Immediately she launched herself off the thick branch they were sitting on, and Daniel followed her, going in on the right side of the herd. Both of them had claimed a kill before the deer even realized what was happening. Then they scattered, but the two vampires left their first victims only momentarily, too take down a few more before the herd ran off. Daniel still couldn't help but wince when he snapped the animals' necks, but it was much better than letting them suffer—and better than killing innocent people.

He and Tanya drained their kills, disposed of the bodies, and headed back for the house. Daniel's jeans and t-shirt were a bit wrinkled, but not a hair on Tanya's head was out of place. Well, then again she had been doing this for much longer than he had. At least he'd made significant improvement over the way he'd looked after his first hunt. The human part of his mind shuddered away from the terrifying memory.

Soon they dropped out of their run for a slower, walking pace that was more conducive to dialogue. Tanya was asking more questions about his education, though he wandered what kind of interest a vampire would have in the University of Chicago.

"It's hard to find a human as well educated as one of us," she explained. "But it seems that you were."

"Well, I never thought about that way…"

She grinned. "Because of how long we live, we have plenty of time for study. It's fascinating how much you already know though you haven't lived much at all, compared to many of us."

"I hope that's a good thing."

"Of course it is!" Tanya laughed. "You're intriguing, Daniel Cullen, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

He was going to ask just what she meant, but she brushed his shoulder and motioned in the direction of the house. "Care for a race?"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "You've already beaten me twice. Must I suffer further humiliation?"

She grabbed his arm eagerly. "But we've just hunted. We've never raced right after a hunt before. Maybe you can beat me now."

"Somehow I doubt it."

"Come on, Daniel, please?"

When she looked at him with those wide eyes behind those strawberry curls, he couldn't say no again. "All right, all right." He took off immediately, but she didn't protest. She only laughed and zipped after him.

Of course, he didn't say in the lead for long. Tanya passed him up and won easily.

Vala ignored the looks Cameron and Teal'c gave her when she dropped into a chair at SG-1's usual table—with a tray heaped with food. It was apparent they'd been a little weirded out about that in the past few weeks.

Well, fine. They could get over it. Besides the fact that she needed the extra sustenance for the baby, it was a good cover the bump under her shirt. It hadn't been there long, but she couldn't really completely hide it anymore, either. Let them think it was the food for a little while longer.

"You're going to have to tell them so," Sam whispered when they left the commissary ahead of the men.

"Oh, I know," she sighed. "I've been trying to decide the best way to do that. You know Cameron will overreact, and Teal'c…well, I'm not worried about his reaction, just…" she winced, "what he'll think of me."

Sam put an arm around her shoulders for a moment. "It'll be fine. We all love you; you know they'll still be here for you, even after they know."

And Sam had certainly been there for her in the past two or three months. Carter had been the one helping her look up just how to take care of herself, and bringing her prenatal vitamins when she didn't have an excuse to go off base. It was a good thing she'd mentioned them in the first place or Vala wouldn't have known Earth had such a thing. Besides general guidelines for keeping oneself healthy, pregnancy on worlds such as Tomin's and planet where she'd been born had been pretty much touch-and-go.

She was sure that the Ori's will for the girl was the only reason Adria had survived so long inside her without nourishment, when Seevus had chained her in the middle of town and left her. This wasn't like that. It was only a normal human baby. She wasn't taking any chances with this child.

Vala smiled at her friend and crossed her arms over her middle, now that they were alone in one of the residential corridors. "Thanks." Somehow stretching her mouth set off the headache that had been lingering under the surface all day, and she grimaced and slapped a hand up against the wall to keep from toppling over from the sudden dizziness.

Sam yelped in alarm and caught her other arm. "Vala?"

"I'm fine; I should probably just get to the bathroom."

Carter nodded in understand. "Okay. You let me know if you need anything, all right? If you think something's wrong, you call me—or better yet call Carolyn. She should know soon, anyway. She should have already known. With that naquidah in your blood you're a little different, remember?"

"Right, right." Vala nodded absently and broke off toward her room. "If it makes you feel any better I'll call you tonight so you know I'm fine." Sam called an affirmative after her, and she got to her room with no incident, though her head still hurt and she was even more queasy than usual.

It's nothing. I suppose a typical pregnancy is just going to be rougher for me than having some Ori-human hybrid in the womb.

The usual pain sliced through her heart at the memory of her first daughter, Adria. As much as she told the others that she didn't think of the Orici as her child—as much as she told herself the same—her heart still clung to the memory and yearned for the one she'd never had: holding her child as a newborn.

Was that why she'd done this? Was that why she hadn't asked Daniel? Because it wasn't so much him as the desire to have a child of her own? No…she loved Daniel…she wanted to have his child…It wouldn't have meant the same thing if it were anyone else's.

But she stopped the thoughts there before that pain could take hold and torture her again. It's only me and the baby now…

She stopped and glanced at the picture on her dresser, the most recent picture of SG-1, taken along with Jack O'Neill, Carolyn, and General Landry earlier during the New Years party. It wasn't perfect, not overly joyful, but still all right. Everyone was smiling, even herself. She was squashed between Cameron and Teal'c, with their arms around her, almost grinning. She was sure it was the first time any of them had looked that happy in a long time.

And my friends.

The Denalis had finally decided that it was time for them to be heading home, but now Daniel wasn't sure he wanted them to. Not that it was such a big thing. It really wouldn't take even a day to get to them if he wanted, either running or by car. He could visit whenever he chose, stay as long as chose. That was how close they were to the Cullens.

Goodbyes were short, but warm, and Carmen and Eleazar, Kate and Garrett were already loaded in the car when Tanya suddenly decided to hang back. She went to Daniel, and the other Cullens drifted away.

"I've had a wonderful time here," Tanya grinned. "A much better time than I've had a in a while." She chuckled. "There hasn't been much new about the Cullens in a while."

Daniel chuckled. "Come on; I'm not that cool."

"You underestimate yourself."

If he could have blushed, he would have. "Well…"

"Don't worry; that's a good thing. Strangely enough I find your modesty charming. I do hope you come to visit soon."

"Uhm, yeah, sure. We'll see…" he spluttered, not sure how to respond. He only wanted to be her friend, and she'd understood that. He hoped she still did, because he couldn't…here, with Edward in the house he couldn't actively think about it, but he couldn't—

And then, while he was busy worrying, Tanya kissed him, and the thoughts fled to the farthest reaches of his mind. In an instant, he was kissing her in return, and he was enjoying it. His mind lost its focus, the focus he'd built up over so much time, to keep Vala safe, to keep Edward from seeing anything in his thoughts.

Suddenly Daniel remembered kissing her, remembered how it had burned his throat, and how breakable she had seemed, and how this wasn't like that. It was different, easier, not painful at all, just a kiss, but it wasn't Vala…

In the next instant he was gasping, breaking away, trying to choke back the horror to keep from hurting Tanya feelings. He succeeded, barely.

But he knew that he couldn't take back the other mistake, the one possibly even more dangerous. He couldn't take back the thoughts.

Tanya smiled at him a little, probably assuming that it had simple been a little too much for a first kiss. She let go of him and backed off a bit. "All right; I'll give you your space for now," she teased. "Come see me some time?"

Daniel nodded absently, struggling to keep the dismay off of his face. It seemed to work, because Tanya flitted outside to the car, and moments later she and her clan pulled out of the long driveway.

He turned slowly, stiffly, toward the stairs, sensing that Edward was there now. The other vampire's dark golden eyes bore into him with an intensity Daniel had never seen before, and when Edward spoke it was with an absolute firmness.

"We need to talk."